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A review by lbarsk
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (Updated Edition) by Anthony Bourdain
4.0
Augh, RIP Tony Bourdain. I love watching Parts Unknown; it's very soothing to me.
It's interesting because I first read this book in literally like, January 2011 or sometime during winter of freshman year of college, and at the time I don't think a lot of the... less socially/politically correct parts of this leapt off the page at me. Reading through it this time, though, it was like, WOOF OKAY TONY. WOW. OKAY.
Obviously this was written in 2000, and according to the popular narrative around the man the Tony Bourdain of Parts Unknown in 2014 was very different than 2000 Tony Bourdain. But in some ways it was just really tough for me to look past the crassness, the casual racism and sexism even in passages where he respects women and POC, etc.
I still enjoyed reading it, but the restaurant industry has changed SO MUCH in 21 years. It mostly makes me sad that Bourdain isn't still with us, and I re-read this book in large part because I was missing him, so... I got what I came for! I just kind of wish that I had recorded my thoughts on it in 2011 so I could check back in with myself 10 years later, you know?
It's interesting because I first read this book in literally like, January 2011 or sometime during winter of freshman year of college, and at the time I don't think a lot of the... less socially/politically correct parts of this leapt off the page at me. Reading through it this time, though, it was like, WOOF OKAY TONY. WOW. OKAY.
Obviously this was written in 2000, and according to the popular narrative around the man the Tony Bourdain of Parts Unknown in 2014 was very different than 2000 Tony Bourdain. But in some ways it was just really tough for me to look past the crassness, the casual racism and sexism even in passages where he respects women and POC, etc.
I still enjoyed reading it, but the restaurant industry has changed SO MUCH in 21 years. It mostly makes me sad that Bourdain isn't still with us, and I re-read this book in large part because I was missing him, so... I got what I came for! I just kind of wish that I had recorded my thoughts on it in 2011 so I could check back in with myself 10 years later, you know?